England players wore a black armband during the first test against Sri Lanka to pay tribute to the late Graham Thorpe at Old Trafford Cricket Stadium In Manchester.
Graham Thorpe died at the age of 55 on August 04,. His wife Amanda revealed that Thorpe took his life after going through “major depression and anxiety,”. He has played 100 tests for England scoring 6744 runs at an average of 44.66 with 16 hundreds and 39 fifties.
Ollie Pope who will be leading England in the Sri Lanka series in the absence of skipper Ben Stokes revealed that his players will wear black armbands during the Manchester test.
For, Thorpey ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lvvxeP87qP
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 21, 2024
“We’ll have our black armbands on throughout the course of the game and there’ll be a tribute to him before. It’s hurt a lot of people in that changing-room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach. I really admired him,” said Ollie Pope.
The stand-in skipper also revealed that the late England great played a very influential part in his career during his time as their batting coach.
“I remember him saying one thing to me, which was: ‘Never let the runs you’re scoring define you as a person’. It shows, for me, what a people person he was. He was loved in the changing room. He’s such a sad loss to everyone—to the country, his family, and the boys as well. He’s missed, and we’ll honor him this week,” said Pope.
Coming to the match, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat where they lost five wickets for 80 runs before the lunch break at Emirates Old Trafford.
